Concentrating-machine.



No. 775,947. PATENTBD Nov. 29, 1904. A. H. STBBBINS.

CONUENTRATING MACHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED MAR.10,1902.

No MODEL.

wma/bow'. m/zzmwmy lllrrie Strafrs Patented November 29, 1904K.

liacrieivcr ricrea.

GONGENTHATlNGwWIAMlNE.

SPECIFICATION' forming part of Letters Patent No. 775,947, datedNovember 29, 1904.

Application filed March l0, 1902. Serial No. 97,507. (No medei.)

Be it known that l, ALBERT H. STnnBrNs, a citizen ot' the United States,residing at Little Rock, in the county oi Pulaski and State of Arkansas,have invented certain new and useful Improvements inConcentrating-Machines, of which the following' is a specifica tion.

The invention to be hereinafter described relates to concentratorswhereby metals and ores are separated and reclaimed from theiraccompanying impurities. When material containing' metals and valuableores is subjected to the action of an agitating' torce, it becomesstratiiied and the light or waste material will rise to the top of themass, while the metals and valuable ores constituting' the heavierparticles will gravitate to the bottom of the mass, and it' when themass is thus stratiiied the upper portion is subjected to a moving'force in one direction while the lower section is subjected to a moving'force in a different direction it is evident that the valuable portionsof the mass may be separated and collected from the remainder.

It is the general object of my present invention to provide means forcarrying' out the operations above indicated-that is, for stratii'yingthe mass oi material by the passage therethrough oi' air or other iiuidcurrents and to then direct such air or Huid currents into differentcourses, so that the lighter particles in the stratified mass will bemoved in one direction while the heavier particles in the mass will bemoved in a different direction, and while in the present embodiment ofmy invention 1 have shown an apparatus provided with means i'or givingIa definite direction to the two portions et' the stratified `massreferred to it is obvious that the direction oi'v either portion of themass may be changed to suit the particular circumstances or charactersot ore being' treated.

With the above general objects in view myl invention consists of theparts and combinations, as will be hereinafter more fully deu scribed,and deiinitely pointed out in the claims.

I do not claim, broadly, in this specification a separatingsuri'acehaving' perforated seel tions arranged in dil'lerent pla-nes except incombination with cutting-board extended over the sections in the lowerplane, as such forms the subject of my application, Serial No. 92,494,liled February la, 1902.

ln the drawings, Figure l isa plan view of an apparatus embodying myinvention, the top or cover being' removed to more clearly disclose theparts beneath constituting' the coucentrating-surface. Fig. 2 is asection on line fr .fr ot' Fig. l; and Fig. 3 is a detail plan of aportion of the concentratiiig-surface and, its cutting-boards,ln'esenting a modilied `form to be hereinafter explained.

The main body of the machine consists ot' a box-like frame A oi' anysuitable form and construction in which is supported some distance abovethe bottom (t thcreo'l a concentrating-suri'ace (designated generally bythe letter B) and on which the material, preferably in a linely dividedor comminuted state, fed or delivered through a suitable hopper D,supported above the concentrating-suriace, as shown, on the detachablelid o1' cover E, the said cover when in use being detachably connectedto the box-like frame A by any desirable form otl latch or hook conneetion e e'.

The concentrating-surface B is provided withperorations arranged in aplurality oi' series, each series of perforations being arranged at anangle to the pert'm'ations olf another series to direct the air or iiuidcurrents across the concentrating-suriiace in different directions, willhereinafter more iully appear. The concentrating-surtace B is preferablyi'ormed of a series of coneentrating-see tions Z) 7)', arranged indilj'erent planes, as more clearly shown in Fig. 2, the number ot saidditl'erent planes vbeing' represented as two in the constructionillustratedthat is, all oi the sections 7) are arranged in one plane,while all of the sections are arranged in another plane below the planeof sections 0; but it evident, oi' course, that the number oit' planesot' sections may be varied, although the con struction embodying the twoplanes of sections, as illustrated, has been lound by me to give goodpractical results. lt will also be evident that where a greater numberoi' planes of concentrating-sections are employed they Fig. 2-namely,the upper plane of sections will be arranged adjacent to the next lower.plane of sections throughout the series of planes of sections, so thatan upper section I, l

l as @2 e", having the perforations 6*, with a midwill alternate with asection on the plane next below it.

Between the concentrating-surface B and the bottom a of the boX-lilieframe A is an air or fluid chamber F, into which suitable continuous orintermittent blasts of air or other fluid may be introduced by means ofa pipe C, connected at suitable intervals, as at c, with the box-likeframe beneath the concentratingsurface. If desired, I may provide one ormore valves in the pipe C, as at c', so that the force and character ofblasts of air or other fluid may be controlled as they enter the air orfluid chamber F and whereby said blasts ina-y be permitted to beintroduced at one or a plurality of points beneath theconcentrating-surface B, as will be evident from Fig. l.

rhe upper concentrating-sections of the concentrating-surface areperforated, so as to direct air or other fluid currents across thesurface of the upper concentrating-sections ,7), as shown in Figs. l and2, the said perforations being formed by forcing a portion of thematerial of said section upward or odsetting it above the opposite wallof the opening thus formed, as shown at 3. The lower plane ofconcentrating-sections 7)' are likewise perforated in a similar mannerby forcing a portion of the material of each section upward andoffsetting' it, as before stated, with the opening directed at an angleto the openings in the Lipper concentrating-sections b, as shown at b*in Fig. Q. ln the present illustration of my invention I have shown theperforations 723 in the upper concentrating-sections as directeddiagonally across said concentratingsections, (see Fig. 1,) and I haveshown the perforations b* in the lower concentrating-sections b asdirected across the machine or lengthwise of the concentrating-sections5'; but it is to be understood, of course, that the relative directionsgiven to the perforations in the different planes of sections may bevaried as desired and will be controlled also by the character ofmaterial being treated and the character of fluid available for use. Inany event, however, the perforations in one plane will direct thecurrents in a different direction to thereby cause the differentportions of material Linder treatment to be moved in differentdirections, as hereinbefore generally referred to.

Thile the apparatus constituting my invention may be employed without acover E during the treatment of some forms of material, yet such coveris desirable under some conditions, and I have therefore provided acover E, adapted to be removably secured to the box-like frame above theconcentratingsurface B, as hereinbefore described; but in the use ofsaid cover itis desirable also that the air or fluid currents have acertain amount Y of escapement, and this l accomplish by forming thecover as best shown in Fig. Q that is, of two layers of perforatedmaterial, such dle layer e5 of some permeable material, such as afabric, the purpose of which is to confine the material under treatmentand the air or fluid currents and yet permit such air or fluid currentsa certain amount of relief. Thile the construction of cover I have abovedescribed is a good practical form, yet it will be understood that anyform of cover which will permit the air or fluid currents to slowly passtherethrough will answer the purpose.

At the side of the machine I have provided a concentrate-chute G, intowhich the concentrates or heavy portion of the material under treatmentmay fall from the concentrating-surface and be collected at the end ofthe chute. This concentrate-chute in the form of the apparatusillustrated is disposed along' the edge of the box-like frame; but itwill be understood that such concentrate chute may be located in anyconvenient position to receive thereinto the concentrates or heavyportion of the material as it is delivered from theconcentrating-surface. At the end of the machine also l have disposed aseries of wastechutes H, into which the light portions of the materialmay be discharged, preferably from the upper section 5, as shown, andwhile. l have shown a number of such waste-chutes it will be evidentthat the number may be Vvaried as desired and disposed differently withrelation to the concentrating-surface.

From the construction thus far described it will be noted that ore-pulpor like material fed to the concentrating-surface B through thefeed-chute D or at that end of the machine will be acted on first by thecurrents of air or duid passing through the upper section 7), whichcur-rents by direction of the openings 3 will cause the mass of materialthereon to become stratified more or less, with the heavier particles atthe bottom, and simultaneously with such stratification the materialwill be fed by the force of these currents toward the opposite end ofthe machine until it reaches the first concentrate-section L in thelower plane within the section l), at which point the valuable particleswill gravitate to the bottom or directly upon said section b, and bydirection of the perforations 7)* in said section the said valuableproducts will be moved along the` length of said concentrate-section7;', while the light or waste material forming the main portion of theupper strata will be carried onto the next upper section Z), and so fromsection to section of the concentrate-surface the material will besubjected to repeated stratification and movement of the heavierparticles in one direction, while the lighter particles will IOO IIO

be moved in another direction. In order to facilitate the movement ofthe lighter parti cles from the top of the mass contained on any lowersection 7), 1 have provided cutting boards or knives, preferably shapedas a sawtooth or scalloped, as shown at (Z, the said cutting-boardsbeing arranged above the lower concentrating-sections the ends of thecutting-board preferably resting upon the edges of the adjacent upperconcentrating-sections t, so that they in reality form bridges coveringa portion of the space above the lower concentrating-sections 7). Thesaw-toothed or scalloped cutting-boards are preferably perforated, as atd', in a manner similar to the formation of the perforations in theconcentrating-sections, so that any material passing onto the top of thesaid cutting-boards will be transferred by the passage of the air orfluid currents through said perforations onto the next higherconcentrating-section The forces used for transportation of the materialover the cutting-boards are the forces coming through theconcentrating-surface beneath the said boards, such forces being the airor iiuid currents, and it being but a relatively short distance betweenthe cutting' and eonveying board and the concentrati11g-section beneaththe same the layer of ore-pulp under the said board will becomparatively thin and the air or iiuid gets through it easily, passingltherefrom on through the perforations in the cutting and conveyingboard, by which per forations it receives any new desired direction andserves to transfer the material in that direction when it lodges uponthe surface of the said board.

llt will be evident from the construction thus far described that as thestratified material passes from the upper section onto a lower sectiono' and is moved bythe force of the air or {iuid currents in a newdirection, owing to the perforations in the lower concentratingsection7)', the upper strata of light material will be cut by the cuttingboards or knives Z from the lower portion of the material, and suchlight material passing' onto the top ofthe cutting-boards will be givena ne`w direction of travel by virtue of the perforations cl in saidboards, whereby the light material will be transferred onto the nexthigher concentrating-section L, and this operation will continuethroughout the extent of the machine until linally the lighter portionof the material being' now thoroughly denuded of its valuable portionswill fall into one of the wastechutes H, while the heavier particleswill be transljiorted by the lower concentrating-sections L/ into theconcentrating-chute G.

The apparatus as thus described consists of an arrangement of aconcentrating-surface in which are combined various levels or planeswith perforations therethrough to direct the f1 uid forces in a mannerfor each level or plane to work independently of the adjacent one andyet in a sense in conjunction therewith and the placing at the lowerplanes of cutting boards or knives, preferably perforated to segregatefrom the material on the lower planes the top part thereof andfacilitate its transportation to an adjacent higher plane. it isobvious, of course, that the conocntrating-su rface may be arranged atany desired angle from a horizontal; but l have found that the formillustrated gives goed practical results; but, in fact, theconcemtrating-surface may be so arranged that different angles may beattained, if desired, and the saw-toothed cutting-boards may bedifferently disposed over the lower plane of sections of theconcentrating-surface than that disclosed in Figs. il, and Q, and lhave. shown as a modification of this a construction in Fig. 3, whereinthe cuttingI and conveying boards (JX are arranged over the lowerconcentrating-section alternately with their point or apex in differentdirections, as indicated in lfig. 3, and other modifications willsuggest themselves to one versed in this class of machines; but theprinciple involved will remain unchangedthat is, a disposition ofcutting-boaiils above the lower plane of concentratingsections totransport the upper strata of material from the lowerconcentrating-sections to the upper concenla'atirig-section ashereinbefore fully described. ln the present embodiment of my inventionl have also shown the concentratiiig-sections as of uniform size anddin'lensions and parallel with each other; but this is merely a matterof convenient form, as they may be arranged in varying sizes, as will beevident without illustration, and their angular disposition to eachother and to the box-lil e frame may be varied likewise.

The present apparatus, while primarily designed for the separation ofdry material, can be used with advantage with both air and water oreither of them as the separating medium, and in either case the air orwater forced from beneath through the concentrating-su rfaceaccomplishes all the agitation necessary for stratification, and therebyeliminates the necessity of shaking and jigging machinery.

Having thus described my iiiiii'ention, what I claim, and desire tosecure by Letters Patl. In an ore-concentrator, the combination of aframe, a perforated concentratirig-surface supported thereby and a'fluid chamber be neath said surface, said concentrating-surfacecomprising sections arranged in different planes, means for introducingblasts of gase ous fluid beneath the concentrating-surface to stratifyand move material supported thereon, and cuttingboards extended over thelower sections to cut the top layers of material from the stratifiedmass upon the lowerI sections and transfer it to a, section in a higherplane.

2. In an ore-concentrator, the combination, of a frame, aconcentrating-sui'face supported thereby above the bottom of said frameto provide a fluid-chamber, said concentrating-surface comprisingperforated concentrate-sections arranged in dierent planes, theperforations of the different sections being arranged at an angle toeach other, means for introducing iu id-blasts beneath theconcentrating-surface, and cutting-boards disposed above theconcentrate-sections of the lower plane to cut the top portion from thematerial upon the lower concentrate-sections and transfer it to aconcentrate-section in a higher plane.

3. In an ore-concentrator, the combination of a frame, aconcentrating-surface supported thereby above the bottom of said frameto provide a fluid-chamber, said concentrating-surface comprisingperforated concentrate-sections arranged in different planes` theperforations of the different sections being arranged at an angle toeach other, the walls of said per forations being offset to direct thecurrents of fluid over said sections, means for introducing fluid-blastsbeneath the concentrating-surface. and cutting-boards disposed above theconcentrate-sections of the lower plane to cut the top portion from thematerial upon the lower concentrate-sections and transfer it to aconcentrate-section in a higher plane.

et. In an ore-concentrator, the combination of a boX-lile frame, aconcentrating-surface comprising perforated concentrate sectionsarranged in different planes, the walls of the perforations in saidsections being offset to direct Huid-currents over said concentrate-sections, and the perforations in thesections of one plane being angularlydisposed with relation to the perforations in the sections of anotherplane so that the fluid-currents issuing through the perforations in thesections will tend to move the material in different directions, meansfor introducing Huid-currents beneath the concentrate-sections, andcuttingboards disposed above the sections in the lower plane to cut offthe top portion of the material supported on said lower sections.

5. In an ore-concentrator, the combination of a box-like frame, orconcentrating-surface supported by said frame and comprising perforatedconcentrate-sections arranged in different planes, means for introducingblasts of gaseous fluid beneath said concentrate-sections to stratifyand move material supported thereon, and perforated cutting-boardsdisposed above the concentrate-sections in the lower plane to cut o anddirect the top portion of material supported on said lower sections ontoa section in a higher plane.

6. ln an ore-concentrator, the combination of a box-like frame, aconcentrating-surface supported by said frame and comprising perforatedsections arranged in different planes` means for introducing blasts ofgaseous fluid beneath said concentrate-sections to stratify and movematerial supported thereon, and perforated cutting-boards wider at oneend than at the other disposed above the concentrate-sections in thelower plane to cut olf and direct the top portion of material supportedon said lower sections onto a section in a higher plane.

7. 1n an ore-concentrator, the combination of a frame, a perforatedconcentrating-surface supported thereby to provide a fluid-chamberbeneath said surface, said concentrating-surface comprising sectionsarranged in dierent planes, means for introducing blasts of gaseousiiuid beneath the concentrating-surface to stratify and move materialsupported thereon, and cutting-boards extended over the lower sectionsto cut the top layers of material from the stratified mass upon thelower sections and transfer it to a section in a higher plane, and acover supported above the concentrating-surface.

8. In an ore-c oncentrator, the combination of a boX-lile frame, aconcentrating-surface supported by said frame and comprising perforatedconcentrate-sections arranged in different horizontal planes, means forintroducing blasts of gaseous fluid beneath theconcentrating-surface,cutting-boards disposed above the lowerconcentrate-sections, the perforations in the sections in differentplanes being arranged at an angle to each other to move material thereonin different directions and the said cutting-boards being' provided withperforations to direct the material supported thereby onto the higherconcentrate-sections.

ALBERT H. STEBBINS. ln presence of J. E. LEAs, J. M. WTELLS.

